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[Knave]

Hi Alexm, and welcome to the forums!

Just wanted to say that I really like what I see! I agree with the comment above likening the early development to Distant Worlds, one of my favourite 4x games, makes for a universe that feels very alive!
 
It might have been mentioned somewhere, but I imagine the game will be pausable during combat to issue orders? I'm not sure how in-depth you plan to make the command and control, but I'm sure it would be nice to take a break and look over all your ships and see which of your officers need attention. How much fleet management will there be in a game? if we can make space stations, does that mean we can leave defence fleets behind to protect our assets?

I also really like the idea of officers having their own personalities and traits, reminds me of Crusader Kings where everyone had their own personality and agenda. Will they gain experience as the campaign wears on? If their ship gets destroyed do they go with it, or is their a chance they might escape in a pod? How much control will we have on officer selection and assignment?

Sorry for all the questions, but this just seems like a very in-depth and rewarding game and I want to know more! 

[Lethal Dosage]

What are the current plans for the game? Will it resemble EV Nova perhaps?

[alexm]

Hi Alexm, and welcome to the forums!

Just wanted to say that I really like what I see! I agree with the comment above likening the early development to Distant Worlds, one of my favourite 4x games, makes for a universe that feels very alive!

Thank you! I've never actually played Distant Worlds, but looking at it now, it's really tempting. I'm actually afraid I'd really like it and end up spending too much time playing.
 

It might have been mentioned somewhere, but I imagine the game will be pausable during combat to issue orders? I'm not sure how in-depth you plan to make the command and control, but I'm sure it would be nice to take a break and look over all your ships and see which of your officers need attention. How much fleet management will there be in a game? if we can make space stations, does that mean we can leave defence fleets behind to protect our assets?

I also really like the idea of officers having their own personalities and traits, reminds me of Crusader Kings where everyone had their own personality and agenda. Will they gain experience as the campaign wears on? If their ship gets destroyed do they go with it, or is their a chance they might escape in a pod? How much control will we have on officer selection and assignment?

Yeah, you can pause during combat. There's a "war room" style interface for giving orders to ships, and you can take your time there to look over everything.  You can also keep combat going while you're in the warroom, if you so decide.

The plan is to let you leave defense fleets behind, yes. For example, if you have a mining outpost, you could leave some ships in the system to help protect it. You could also leave most of your fleet parked somewhere if you need to do something that's easier to do with a smaller task force (or even just your flagship, which can be quite powerful in its own right).

The details of how officers will work are a bit up in the air - that is to say, I have a pretty good idea of how I want them to work, but no idea survives implementation unscathed - so it's quite likely to change. That being said, officers (and crews) gain experience and provide skill bonuses to your ships and fleet. I'd like them to be killable to add a certain grimness to the setting, but how likely that is depends on how it plays out. One idea for officer replacement is to let you promote from the ranks after a battle (i.e., "several crewmen have performed their duties admirably, etc etc", and then you'd have the choice to make them into officers. The crew itself will be abstracted to save the hassle of managing it if you have a very large fleet - it's assumed that new recruits are brought in as needed during planetfall, a crew's veterancy level may drop after a battle in which the ship is heavily damaged (to reflect casualties - the crew you have left are battle hardened, but there's just not enough of them to do all the work - and anybody else brought in behind the scenes is green), etc.

Sorry for all the questions, but this just seems like a very in-depth and rewarding game and I want to know more! 

More than happy to talk about it

What are the current plans for the game? Will it resemble EV Nova perhaps?

The FAQ should give some idea of the general direction.  EV Nova is pretty focused on one ship (iirc), so in that sense it's not an ideal comparison (though you /could/ just go with a single ship here as well).

[Freak]

So if we preorder how do we access the game later, do we just get a key or something?

[TwilightWalker]

Rather relevant question for me here, but just how many missiles can we stack onto a ship? I tend to love launching out horrendous swarms of missiles in any naval game, whether it be sea or space, and I was wondering if you'd let us send out our own Macross Missile Massacre that'd make my quartermaster break down into heartbroken sobs at the sheer amount of expensive ordnance going out.

[Lethal Dosage]

What are the current plans for the game? Will it resemble EV Nova perhaps?

The FAQ should give some idea of the general direction.  EV Nova is pretty focused on one ship (iirc), so in that sense it's not an ideal comparison (though you /could/ just go with a single ship here as well).

It is, you can, however for your own "squad" of ships, although it is not a very "flexible" system. (You only have a handful of orders, attack, do not attack, ect.)

[alexm]

So if we preorder how do we access the game later, do we just get a key or something?

Yeah, you get a key. You actually get access to the game starting with alpha versions - so you won't have to wait a long time to get your hands on something.

Rather relevant question for me here, but just how many missiles can we stack onto a ship? I tend to love launching out horrendous swarms of missiles in any naval game, whether it be sea or space, and I was wondering if you'd let us send out our own Macross Missile Massacre that'd make my quartermaster break down into heartbroken sobs at the sheer amount of expensive ordnance going out.

I quite enjoy missile swarms too.  So to answer your question, they'll be as big as they reasonably can, given that the engine needs to support a pretty large number of ships in battle at the same time.  Right now, a ship fitted for it can throw out ~12 or so long-range missiles in short order... and then there are MIRV warheads to consider.  Or the "Annihilator" class (unguided) rocket launcher, which puts out quite a few more than usual, in a spread pattern. And then there's the "Hydra" class DEM (directed energy munition) - a missile that shoots a powerful beam at its target when in range. And the MIRV version of that.

... and none of the ships so far are even dedicated missile boats - and we'll certainly have a few of those.

It is, you can, however for your own "squad" of ships, although it is not a very "flexible" system. (You only have a handful of orders, attack, do not attack, ect.)

Ah, ok - didn't play it enough to get that far. Well, I'll just say that managing your ships' loadouts, your officers, and your fleet is a core part of Starfarer, so expect it to be fairly involved. We'll try to strike a good balance between flexible and hassle-free.

By the way, if you're interested in keeping tabs on any major developments, I've got a twitter account (@amosolov), and there's also a mailing list you can sign up for from the website.  I keep traffic on both (especially the mailing list) to a minimum.

[CoyoteTheClever]

Excellent game looks excellent! I especially love the graphics style and that a lot of flavor seems to be put into the weapons. The idea of officer personalities influencing how they perform their roles is also really cool, very fitting for a space opera genre game (I'm a huge fan of Legends of the Galactic Heroes where there is always some officer doing something hilariously stupid, so its pretty damn cool that I can experience that sort of drama in a game now too). I can tell this is going to be a pretty high quality indie venture.

[x2yzh9]

So when do you estimate the very first alpha build will be out to the people who pre-ordered?

[Freak]

Well I just pre-ordered it 


Any body want my opinion once I get my hands on the alpha?

[alexm]

Excellent game looks excellent! I especially love the graphics style and that a lot of flavor seems to be put into the weapons. The idea of officer personalities influencing how they perform their roles is also really cool, very fitting for a space opera genre game (I'm a huge fan of Legends of the Galactic Heroes where there is always some officer doing something hilariously stupid, so its pretty damn cool that I can experience that sort of drama in a game now too). I can tell this is going to be a pretty high quality indie venture.

Thank you for the compliment! I really appreciate your guys' support, we'll do our best to make sure it delivers.

So when do you estimate the very first alpha build will be out to the people who pre-ordered?

It's hard to say exactly, but if I had to guess right now, I'd say 1-2 months. It's close to ready, but actually getting something out the door always takes longer than expected, so please don't hold me to it.

Any body want my opinion once I get my hands on the alpha?

I do, for one!  Thanks for the vote of confidence that is the pre-alpha preorder

[Freak]

I do, for one!  Thanks for the vote of confidence that is the pre-alpha preorder

Eh, I'm a sucker for sandbox space games and this looked right up my alley, so might as well get it while it's half off.

[Sinned]

Saw the thread, checked it out and pre-ordered to come back and see one of the developers posting here. Thats an added bonus

Can't wait to try it out, seems very promising.

[Shades]

I want to pre-order but I also kinda want it through steam (so that my games stay in one place and make my life easier). Is there a likelyhood of the game being available on steam in the near future?

It certainly looks like the kind of game I'd enjoy so far.

[Lord Snow]

Looking very nice judging by the list of to-be features. By all means, take your time and make it awesome.